some other surveys have shown president obama with a stronger hand. we looked democrats in congress together with the president, any time you lump congress in a question it drags down the number. finally if you look at the intense partisan split on outlooks for the economy, this is something that is relevant as we try to measure the pessimism or optimism of american voters, we see now an even split among those who say the economy will get better in the next year versus those who say it will get worse but there's a tremendous partisan split there. republicans, a six in ten republicans say the economy will get worse. it's the loser's lament after the election that they become more pessimistic, democrats overwhelmingly optimistic, independents interestingly agree more with the republicans, they expect the economy to get worse and that's one of the factors weighing down on public opinion as we head toward the last three weeks of the year's negotiations to avoid the fiscal cliff, carl. >> times a-wastin. with the deadline inching closer what needs to be do